bdatud4x4
Registered
Glad to hear both of you are recovering and are able to resume diving
Divers seriously injured in car accident
- Thread starter Gdog
- Start date
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Just another quick update for anyone interested (some have accused me of becoming an over-sharer following the accident.)
I've now been home from the hospital for 10 weeks and have progressed from needing a walker to walking without a walker or cane for 2.5 miles at a time (in just over an hour, so not very fast). I've been working full time for about 12 weeks and have seen limited impact from my head injury, but there are some lingering effects that should improve over the next 12-18 months.
I've got one more surgery on Monday to repair some scarring in my urinary tract caused by the crushed pelvis (that may be an example of over-sharing -- lol) and when I am recovered from that am planning on getting a dive physical to judge how close I am to being able to dive again. We've got a trip to Kona scheduled just before Christmas that I will want to dive on if possible.
My wife is almost fully recovered -- still just some lingering, occasion flare ups of sciatic nerve pain that is getting less frequent with time. We are both jonesing to be underwater again.
I've now been home from the hospital for 10 weeks and have progressed from needing a walker to walking without a walker or cane for 2.5 miles at a time (in just over an hour, so not very fast). I've been working full time for about 12 weeks and have seen limited impact from my head injury, but there are some lingering effects that should improve over the next 12-18 months.
I've got one more surgery on Monday to repair some scarring in my urinary tract caused by the crushed pelvis (that may be an example of over-sharing -- lol) and when I am recovered from that am planning on getting a dive physical to judge how close I am to being able to dive again. We've got a trip to Kona scheduled just before Christmas that I will want to dive on if possible.
My wife is almost fully recovered -- still just some lingering, occasion flare ups of sciatic nerve pain that is getting less frequent with time. We are both jonesing to be underwater again.
OP
Gdog
Contributor
Doug that is fantastic news. You will be back at the Thursday night Dives soon!
Whelp, my goal of diving again before the end of the year has been dashed. The director of the Hyperbaric Medicine clinic where the dive physician I am seeing is based had three requirements before I can schedule a dive physical:
1) No more artificial tubes coming out of my body (complete as of November 15)
2) All wounds healed (complete as of November 22 when the hole from the last tube was healed up.)
3) Return to "baseline fitness." This one threw me for a loop because it wasn't clear what "baseline fitness" means -- is it a minimum strength and endurance needed to dive safely, or do I need to be back to the fitness level I was before the accident (which was pretty good for a 53 year old.)
I finally got clarification that by "baseline fitness" they mean that all of my physical therapy is completed and I have a note from my physical therapist that I am back to "full strength". In talking with my PT, he agreed that I don't need to be back to exactly the same level I was before, but I need not have limitations in strength or range of motion. Our estimate is it will be three more months of therapy for me to get there -- a lot of that due to the fact that during my surgery (mentioned above) they needed to take muscle tissue from my thigh to help rebuild the pelvic area which led to a 12" incision down the inside of my thigh and a lot of loss of strength and mobility in my left leg.
That puts me to the middle of February or so before I can even schedule the dive physical. My new goal is to be diving on the one year anniversary of the accident (April 9.) That should be achievable unless the doctor has a lot of further requirements for evaluating my head injury -- thankfully I have had not had any ongoing issues from the head injury (no dizziness, no memory loss since the initial few weeks after the accident, no seizures, and no issues with being able to successfully get back to full time employment.) Wish me luck.
1) No more artificial tubes coming out of my body (complete as of November 15)
2) All wounds healed (complete as of November 22 when the hole from the last tube was healed up.)
3) Return to "baseline fitness." This one threw me for a loop because it wasn't clear what "baseline fitness" means -- is it a minimum strength and endurance needed to dive safely, or do I need to be back to the fitness level I was before the accident (which was pretty good for a 53 year old.)
I finally got clarification that by "baseline fitness" they mean that all of my physical therapy is completed and I have a note from my physical therapist that I am back to "full strength". In talking with my PT, he agreed that I don't need to be back to exactly the same level I was before, but I need not have limitations in strength or range of motion. Our estimate is it will be three more months of therapy for me to get there -- a lot of that due to the fact that during my surgery (mentioned above) they needed to take muscle tissue from my thigh to help rebuild the pelvic area which led to a 12" incision down the inside of my thigh and a lot of loss of strength and mobility in my left leg.
That puts me to the middle of February or so before I can even schedule the dive physical. My new goal is to be diving on the one year anniversary of the accident (April 9.) That should be achievable unless the doctor has a lot of further requirements for evaluating my head injury -- thankfully I have had not had any ongoing issues from the head injury (no dizziness, no memory loss since the initial few weeks after the accident, no seizures, and no issues with being able to successfully get back to full time employment.) Wish me luck.
Beau Holden
Contributor
Hang in there. Anyway way you can start with some pool work?
OP
Gdog
Contributor
Wishing you lots of luck!
Maybe. There aren't a lot of pools around here that are easy to access for diving, but I have some friends that are instructors. I may be able to grab some pool time when the dive shop rents a pool for a class.
In any case, I'm going to be snorkeling in Hawaii in the second half of December -- will have to make the most of that since it will be at least a few more months after that before I am diving again.
Just another quick update on our ongoing saga. My wife got back in the water yesterday for the first time since the accident with our friends (a couple who are a divemaster and an instructor just for a little added supervision) and had a fabulous first dive back (no, I'm not envious at all -- why do you ask? 
) I hope to be following her lead in a few months when I am done with physical therapy since I continue to make good progress regaining strength and endurance.
I have had another instructor friend offer some pool time when he next has a class if the scheduling works out, so I have that to look forward to...
) I hope to be following her lead in a few months when I am done with physical therapy since I continue to make good progress regaining strength and endurance.I have had another instructor friend offer some pool time when he next has a class if the scheduling works out, so I have that to look forward to...
OP
Gdog
Contributor
Super cool! So good to hear.
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